In an athletic shoe, flexibility is an important quality. Traction is another important quality for increasing the performance of today's athletic shoes. The athletic shoes on the market today must therefore provide good traction and a high degree of flexibility. However, the same degree of traction and flexibility are also responsible for many foot injuries, especially around the toe area. In order to provide protection from foot injury, some current athletic shoes have a strong semi-rigid plastic type sole that provides the additional protection for the foot and toe area in particular, yet it reduces flexibility.
With the increase in flexibility of modern shoes, as well as the increase in traction (for example, from artificial playing surfaces), certain forms of foot injury, commonly referred to as "turf-toe" have been more common among today's athletes. Up to this time, there have been no shoes which enhance the protection of the athletes foot against the "turf toe" injury, while retaining the necessary flexibility to allow the athlete or wearer maximum performance.
The above described "turf-toe" injury may come about due to the hyperextension of the toes. The hyperextension of the toes is caused by the bending of the toes up and back toward the top of the foot past the point of normal activity or flexibility. This injury sometimes occurs when the toe portion of the shoe worn by the athlete has very good traction with respect to the field or playing surface while the rest of the foot still moves forward forcing the hyperextension of the toe (usually the big toe) thus causing injury to the metatarsophalangeal joint. Another type of "turf-toe" injury may be caused when the toe portion of a soft-soled shoe is slammed into the hard playing surface placing all of the impact force on the toe joints. None of the present shoes provide sufficient protection against the above foot injuries while maintaining sufficient flexibility for the necessary performance of the athlete.